Hand exerciser with adjustable valve

ABSTRACT

A hand exerciser comprising a flexible, compressible, hollow bulb of rubber or like material and of a size which can be conveniently held in the hand and squeezed from a normally expanded to a collapsed condition. A bleed valve in the neck of the bulb has a tapered slot providing a restricted air duct through which air is expelled from the bulb when the bulb is squeezed. The valve is in the form of a threaded plug. The plug is axially adjusted by rotation so as to vary the effective cross section of the slot and hence the rate at which air may be squeezed out of the bulb. An enlargement is formed on each end of the plug, whereby the plug will not normally become separated from the bulb. One of the enlargements, which is located inside the hollow bulb, is traversed by the tapered slot, thereby permitting air to be expelled from the bulb with relative ease even when this enlargement is moved against the neck of the bulb. In contrast thereto, the other enlargement, which is located outside the hollow bulb, is not traversed by the tapered slot and thereby permits air to be expelled from the bulb only by a considerable amount of squeezing pressure when this enlargement is moved against the neck of the bulb.

United States Patent [191 Denler [451 Oct. 7, 1975 I 1 HAND EXERCISER WITH ADJUSTABLE VALVE [75] Inventor: Harry Kirk Denler, Detroit, Mich.

[73] Assignee: Grip-It, Inc., Detroit, Mich.

[22] Filed: Nov. 29, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 419,961

[52] US. Cl. 272/68; 251/205; 251/216; 251/351; 251/DIG. 4; 272/DIG. 1; 272/DIG.4

[51] Int. Cl. A63B 21/30; F16K 24/04;

[58] Field of Search 272/68, 82, DIG. l, DIG. 4; 251/205, 208, 209, 122, 216, 351, DIG. 4;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 311,599 2/1885 Moore 251/205 X 505,745 9/1893 Barclay 272/68 Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham, Assistant Examiner-R. T. Stouffer Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Whittemore, Hulbert &

Belknap [57] ABSTRACT A hand exerciser comprising a flexible, compressible, hollow bulb of rubber or like material and of a size which can be conveniently held in the hand and squeezed from a normally expanded to a collapsed condition. A bleed valve in the neck of the bulb has a tapered slot providing a restricted air duct through which air is expelled from the bulb when the bulb is squeezed. The valve is in the form of a threaded plug. The plug is axially adjusted by rotation so as to vary the effective cross section of the slot and hence the rate at which air may be squeezed out of the bulb. An enlargement is formed on each end of the plug, whereby the plug will not normally become separated from the bulb. One of the enlargements, which is located inside the hollow bulb, is traversed by the tapered slot, thereby permitting air-to be expelled from the bulb with relative ease even when this enlargement is moved against the neck of the bulb. In contrast thereto, the other enlargement, which is located outside the hollow bulb, .is not traversed by the tapered slot and thereby permits air to be expelled from the bulb only by a considerable amount of squeezing pressure when this enlargement is moved against the neck of the bulb.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Oct. 7,1975 3,910,572

HAND EXERCISER WITH ADJUSTABLE VALVE BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Hollow bulbs of the general type described herein have been used as hand exercisers in the past. Such bulbs are squeezed from a normally expanded to a collapsed condition and have bleed valve means for restricting the explusion of air from the bulb when squeezed.

An example of a prior art hand exerciser of this type is shown in US. Pat. No. 3,542,363.

The present invention relates to an improved bulb type hand exerciser. The particular improvement re sides in the valve construction which is adjustable to enable the user to vary the size of the restriction through which the air is expelled. Accordingly, in one position of the valve, the bulb may be squeezed and collapsed relatively easily, while in another position substantially greater squeezing pressure is required. A person may thus build up his hand and forearm muscles over a period of time by gradually increasing the resistance of the bulb to squeezing by a mere adjustment of the valve.

Hand exercisers of this type are of great benefit to athletes and also to persons suffering from temporary or chronic hand disabilities.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a hand exerciser constructed in accordance with my invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the exerciser, showing the valve at one limit of adjustment.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the valve at the opposite limit of adjustment.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the valve in an intermediate position of adjustment with respect to the bulb shown in dotted lines.

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the valve as seen from another side.

FIG. 6 is an end view of the bleed valve.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the hand exerciser of this invention consists essentially of a bulb l0 and a valve 12.

The bulb 10 is in the form of a flexible, compressible, hollow body of rubber or like material and is of a size that it can be conveniently held in the hand and collapsed from the normally expanded condition shown in the drawing to a collapsed condition.

At one end, the bulb has an integral check valve construction 14 which prevents the outflow of air when the bulb is squeezed but which permits a free inflow of air when squeezing pressure is removed and the bulb returns from its collapsed to its normal expanded free state condition. This integral check valve structure 14 may be of the sort described in the aforementioned patent and consists of an inturned tubular portion 16 having the opposed tapered side wall flaps or elements 18 which normally are spaced from one another to provide an open passage to the outside air. when the bulb is squeezed, however, the initial outrush of air serves to compress the side wall elements 18 into sealing contact with one another to prevent any further expulsion of air. The side wall elements 18 separate when the bulb is released, however, to permit an inrush of outside air to fill the bulb as it expands to its normal position.

At the opposite end, the bulb has an integral reduced neck 20. This neck 20 defines a generally cylindrical and somewhat elongated passage 21 which extends from the outer end of the neck to the shoulder 23 within the bulb.

The valve 12 is in general like a screw. It has a shank 22 and a head 24 provided with a transverse screwdriver slot 25 for manually rotating the valve. The shank 22 is longer than passage 21, having a substantially constant diameter threaded portion 25 near the head 24 and a tapered portion 26 more remote from the head. The threaded portion is approximately the same length as the passage 21 in the neck 20. At the extreme end of the shank 22, integral with the tapered portion 26 thereof, is an enlargement 27 defining an annular transverse shoulder 28. Once installed, the valve will not normally become separated from the bulb because the shoulder 23 has a smaller minimum diameter than the maximum diameter of the enlargement.

The valve 12 is formed of a material which preferably is harder, i.e. has greater resistance to compression, than the material of the bulb. A suitable material for the valve 12 is polypropylene.

The diameter of the constant diameter threaded portion of the shank measured across the crest of the thread, commonly referred to as the major diameter, is slightly greater than the diameter of the passage 21 in the neck 20. Preferably the diameter of the neck 20 is between the crest diameter of the thread and the root diameter thereof. Thus when the valve is assembled with the bulb with its shank extending into the neck as shown, the thread on the shank will press into the material of the wall of passage 21 so that by rotating the valve the shank may be moved axially or lengthwise between the extreme positions shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 shows the valve in its extreme outer position in which the shoulder 28 on the enlargement 27 engages the shoulder 23 in the bulb. FIG. 3 shows the valve at its opposite extreme position in which it is threaded all the way in to a point such that the undersurface 29 of the head 24 contacts the top of the neck 20.

The valve 12 has an elongated slot 30 in the shank which extends lengthwise of the shank from the top of the enlargement 27 to a point intermediate the ends of the threaded portion 25. The bottom 32 of the slot is tapered from the point where the enlargement 27 connects into the tapered portion 26 to its terminus in the threaded portion at an angle very close to the angle of taper of the tapered portion 26. Preferably the angle of taper of the tapered shank portion 26 to the longitudinal axis of the valve is approximately 9 /z, and the taper of the bottom 32 of the slot to the longitudinal axis of the valve is approximately 12. The angle of the part of the bottom of the slot in the enlargement 27 is not critical, and is here shown as extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the valve.

The slot 30 cooperates with the wall of the neck 20 to provide an air duct of variable restriction depending upon the adjustment of the valve. The valve in FIG. 2 is shown at its outer limit in which the shoulder 28 on enlargement 27 engages the internal shoulder 23 of the bulb. In this position of the valve, only the innermost turn or two of the thread on the threaded portion 25 is engaged with the neck of the bulb. Accordingly, the material of the inner wall of the neck will engage these one or two thread turns, providing only a minimum of restriction to the flow of air through the slot so that the bulb may be squeezed and collapsed with relative ease. The remaining part of the slot in the threaded portion of the stem is outside the neck and open to the atmosphere.

If the valve is now screwed in part way to the FIG. 4 position, there will be a somewhat greater restriction to the flow of air. As shown in FIG. 4, the top of the neck encircles the threaded portion of the stem at an intermediate point where the slot is of lesser depth. The material of the inner wall of the neck will engage several turns of the thread, and due to the lesser depth of the slot at the top of the neck, a greater restriction on the flow of air will occur than when the stem is in the FIG. 2 position.

If the valve is not screwed in almost to the FIG. 3 position, the material at the top of the neck will engage a still shallower portion of the slot to further restrict air flow. When the valve is screwed up tight to the FIG. 3 position so that the shoulder 29 of head 24 contacts the top of the neck and the threaded shank portion above the slot is in threaded engagement with the neck, the air duct is substantially closed so that the bulb may be squeezed and collapsed only by a considerable amount of squeezing pressure.

It will thus be seen that there is a minimum restriction to air flow in the slot 30 when the valve is near the FIG. 2 position, greater and greater restriction to air flow in the slot as the valve is gradually threaded in, and finally a maximum restriction when the valve reaches the FIG. 3 position in which the entire air duct is within the neck. Air flow is virtually completely cut off when the shoulder 29 on the head of the valve contacts the top of the neck as in FIG. 3.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. A hand exerciser comprising a flexible, compressible, hollow bulb of a size such that it can be conveniently held in the hand and squeezed from a normally expanded to a collapsed condition, said bulb having a neck at one end defining an elongated passage to the interior of said bulb, the interior of said bulb having a shoulder at the inner end of said passage, a bleed valve for said passage, said valve being of a material having greater resistance to compression than the material of said bulb, said valve having a head at one end and an elongated shank extending from said head, said shank having an enlargement at the end thereof opposite said head, said head and said enlargement being of larger cross-dimension than said passage, said shank between said head and said enlargement being of greater length than said passage and extending lengthwise into said passage, said shank having an elongated slot in one side extending lengthwise of said shank, a portion of said slot extending through said enlargement, said slot being of greater length than said passage, said slot and the adjacent wall of said passage defining a restricted duct for air expelled from said bulb when squeezed, said shank being externally threaded over at least a portion of its length, said slot being of gradually diminishing depth throughout a major portion of its length in a direction toward said head and cutting across said externally threaded portion, said externally threaded portion of said shank engaging said passage and serving to axially adjust said shank with respect to said passage upon rotation of said valve, thereby to vary the effective size of said air duct depending upon the position of said slot with respect to the outer end of said passage and accordingly control the rate at which air is expelled from said bulb when squeezed, said valve being adjustable by rotation to an outer limiting position in which said enlargement engages said shoulder, said portion of said slot extending through said enlargement maintaining communication with the interior of said bulb when said valve is at said outer limiting position. 

1. A hand exerciser comprising a flexible, compressible, hollow bulb of a size such that it can be conveniently held in the hand and squeezed from a normally expanded to a collapsed condition, said bulb having a neck at one end defining an elongated passage to the interior of said bulb, the interior of said bulb having a shoulder at the inner end of said passage, a bleed valve for said passage, said valve being of a material having greater resistance to compression than the material of said bulb, said valve having a head at one end and an elongated shank extending from said head, said shank having an enlargement at the end thereof opposite said head, said head and said enlargement being of larger cross-dimension than said passage, said shank between said head and said enlargement being of greater length than said passage and extending lengthwise into said passage, said shank having an elongated slot in one side extending lengthwise of said shank, a portion of said slot extending through said enlargement, said slot being of greater length than said passage, said slot and the adjacent wall of said passage defining a restricted duct for air expelled from said bulb when squeezed, said shank being externally threaded over at least a portion of its length, said slot being of gradually diminishing depth throughout a major portion of its length in a direction toward said head and cutting across said externally threaded portion, said externally threaded portion of said shank engaging said passage and serving to axially adjust said shank wIth respect to said passage upon rotation of said valve, thereby to vary the effective size of said air duct depending upon the position of said slot with respect to the outer end of said passage and accordingly control the rate at which air is expelled from said bulb when squeezed, said valve being adjustable by rotation to an outer limiting position in which said enlargement engages said shoulder, said portion of said slot extending through said enlargement maintaining communication with the interior of said bulb when said valve is at said outer limiting position. 